The Rules

Creating a Worven

Building a character is simple. To start, grab a piece of paper and a pencil or any other device you can use to keep track of your stats and progress.

Write down your worven’s name to begin. Now write out the four essential attributes that define every worven. Durability, Vigor, Agility, and Survival.

The first attribute is Durability. Durability defines your health and resistance. Durability is tested when you’re forced to take a hit from an enemy to see if you take damage or when you fall from a great distance. Durability is also tested against diseases, poisons, bad weather, hostile terrain, and other physical ailments to reduce their effect.

The second attribute is Vigor. Vigor defines your strength and stamina. Vigor is tested whenever you need to carry something heavy or when you’re damaging an enemy with an attack. Vigor is also tested when running for an extended period or holding a certain position for a long time while hunting or performing similar arduous activities requiring a high level of discipline.

The third attribute is Agility. Agility defines your movement speed and reflexes. Agility is tested whenever you need to perform a series of intense acrobatic maneuvers simultaneously and when avoiding damage outright by dodging attacks or parrying blows. Agility also affects how fast you can move, how efficient those movements are, and determines who strikes first in combat situations.

The fourth and final attribute is Survival. Survival determines your knowledge and willpower. Survival is tested whenever you need to craft an item, execute a sophisticated plan, and assess the potential of danger that something or someone might pose to your character. Survival also determines your mental fortitude and is useful against resisting negative status effects such as confusion, fear, frenzy, and other ailments associated with the mind.

With your attributes written out, now is the time to distribute your stat points. Every character starts as a pup with 5 points to allocate. To increase an attribute by one, place one point into it. The higher the number, the better your character is in that attribute, up to a maximum of 20. A range of 0-5 represents a beginner, while an array of 15-20 represents a master of that particular attribute. It is important to note that stats can enter the negatives except for Growth. A Reputation of -20 will cause your character to be excommunicated from their pack, turning them into a Badblood. If any attribute drops to -20, your character is considered too crippled to be useful, and the game is over.

For example, if during a scenario your worven receives a penalty from an inability to pass a test, such as a -5 to Durability, and your character’s Durability is already at -15, your worven would be retired, forcing you to make a new character to continue playing as your Durability would be at -20 representing a worven whose body is destroyed and broken beyond repair.

Finally, label your stats for progression as “Reputation” for your rank in your pack and “Growth” to determine your worven’s age and experience. Every pack has a system to define authority. As a pup, you’ll be considered a Newblood with zero growth to start. Over time, you will gain more experience and reputation in your pack.

The ranks are as follows:
Badblood (no pack / bastard) [-20 Reputation]
Newblood (pup -> juvenile)
Youngblood (adolescent -> sub-adult)
Fullblood (adult -> mature adult)
Blueblood (adult / mature adult) [500-699 Reputation]
Elderblood (mature adult / senior) [700+ Reputation]
Oldblood (senior -> geriatric)

It’s important to note that Bluebloods and Elderbloods are distinguished titles in a pack. Not every worven can be a Blueblood or Elderblood as they represent the elites and leaders of the pack. It should be the goal of every reader to earn one of these two titles. The higher the rank, the more independence and thus responsibility a worven is awarded.

The lifecycle of a worven is as follows:
Pups (0-99 Growth)
Juveniles (100-199 Growth)
Adolescents (200-299 Growth)
Sub-adults (300-399 Growth)
Adults (400-499 Growth)
Mature adults (500-599 Growth)
Senior (600-699 Growth)
Geriatrics (700-799 Growth)

Pups are the youngest of a pack, while geriatrics represent the oldest. At 800 Growth, your worven has reached the final stage of its life and must pass on to the afterlife.

Growth and Reputation are increased in stages. Scenarios will grant your worven the opportunity to improve both. To advance to the next stage of a worven’s lifecycle, the reader must reach 100 points of Growth.

For example, if your pup has a Growth of 95, and you complete a scenario that awards you 5 Growth points, your pup immediately becomes a juvenile with 100 points of Growth.

The Growth counter does not reset at the start of the next stage, instead, you continue from 100 to 200 where your character grows to an adolescent, and so on. For every 20 Growth points, the reader may allocate 1 extra stat point into any attribute.

For example, an adult worven with a growth of 415 who completes a scenario that gives them 5 Growth points will be automatically rewarded with a stat point to place wherever they please. Perhaps their Survival attribute is lacking, and they decide to bolster it with that free point for the future.

Reputation is tied to the Growth, in that, a pup can never be a Fullblood because that rank requires a worven to be an adult or mature adult. When a juvenile reaches the stage of an adolescent, they are automatically given the rank of Youngblood.

However, for the ranks of Blueblood and Elderblood, a worven can attain those titles through reading scenarios that offer high reputation points. Some scenarios are only accessible to a worven of a certain rank. After all, no pack would entrust their newborns with hunting something the size of a mammoth.

And that’s all! Of course, everything from your worven’s fur color to their eye color, to the names of their pack, and everything in between are up to you.